DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION FORUM

The 2012 UN Development Cooperation Forum (DCF) took place on 5 and 6 July at the UN headquarters in New York. It brought together policy makers, civil society organizations, Members of Parliaments, local authorities and foundations from rich and poor countries. The Forum reviewed development cooperation trends, built greater coherence among various development actors. It presented ways to improve the quality and effectiveness of development cooperation and to increase its impact on development goals.

The 2012 DCF met as development cooperation is in flux. Different actors and new ways of doing things are gaining in importance. A fortnight after the Rio+20 conference, there is broad agreement that development has to be economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. This is important three years before 2015, the target date for the MDGs, when the United Nations Development Agenda for the coming years is being defined. At the same time, political uncertainty and economic hardship continue to dominate many development scenarios around the globe. Prospects for development cooperation are highly uncertain. Hard-won development gains continue to be derailed by the ongoing crises.

The 2012 DCF provides an opportunity to:

Encourage development cooperation actors to live up to promises made on aid quantity, quality and effectiveness.

Provide a platform for all actors to share lessons learned and good practices for making effective use of development cooperation to achieve the MDGs.

Produce agreement on how to advance sustainable development through development cooperation.

Promote coherence of development cooperation through country-led, innovative partnerships within and between governments and with non-state actors.

Promote people-centred accountability for better development results and further develop the role of the DCF and other UN bodies to promote coherence and accountability.

The 2012 DCF addressed a few issues where it can advance common understanding among countries and stakeholders to help international negotiations and spur country-level progress.

Informality and frankness are the hallmark of DCF debates. Interactive plenary sessions and special policy dialogues brought together Ministers of Planning, Finance, Development Cooperation and Foreign Affairs with Executive Heads of international organizations, private companies and foundations, parliamentarians, local governments, civil society representatives and media representatives. The forum ended with a forward looking session on partnering for the future of development.

A series of side events were organized by different development cooperation actors.

In preparation of the 2012 DCF, a series of other activities will, or have taken place:

Side Event at Rio+20 on the role of development cooperation in getting us to the “Future We Want”

DCF High-level Symposium on development cooperation for a sustainable future , 14-15 May 2012, Brisbane, Australia

Special Policy Dialogue on the role of private philanthropic organizations in international development cooperation, 27 February 2012

DCF Preparatory Meeting on the changing context of development, 9 February 2012

Special Event by the DCF Advisory Group at the fourth High level Forum on aid effectiveness in Busan on rethinking development: towards a new sustainable development architecture”, 29 November 2011

DCF High-level Symposium on aid to mobilize other development finance, 18-19 October 2011, Luxembourg

Expert Group Meeting on international mutual accountability, 17 October 2011

Special Event at the fourth UN Conference on LDCs on mutual accountability for LDCs, 12 May 2011

High-level Symposium on development results, 5-6 May 2011

The President of ECOSOC, H.E. Mr. Miloš Koterec, will prepare a summary of the DCF. The summary will be widely disseminated to decision makers and practitioners in development cooperation.

For further information on the Development Cooperation Forum, please contact Mr. Navid Hanif, Director, Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, hanif@un.org.